A brace by Jake Lovatt helped Kidsgrove Athletic to their third consecutive pre-season victory following a 3-1 win over Knutsford FC.

Lovatt gave the Grove the lead on 20 minutes when his low strike found the bottom left hand corner of the goal.

However, Knutsford was to equalise on 30 minutes when their number three smashed the ball into the top corner of the goal. But thanks to second-half goals from Lovatt and a trialist Kidsgrove made it three wins out of three for pre-season.

Kidsgrove had the best of the early chances when a trialist put a looping header just over the bar and, Kyle Blake hit a shot just over the goal.

The host's pressure paid off on 19 minutes as a great Sam Hall long pass found Lovatt through on goal and, he made no mistake as he fired the ball into the bottom left hand corner.

Although, the visitors struck back on 30 minutes when Knutsford's number three was able to find space and his strike darted straight into the top left-hand corner. It left Kieran Harrison with absolutely no chance.

Josh Thorpe had a great chance to restore Kidsgrove lead nine minutes before the break but, he was able to direct his back post header on target.

But, Kidsgrove did re-take the lead on 40 minutes when Lovatt was able to find the back of the net with a sweet half volley.

At the break Scott Dundas made five alterations, the pace of the game did slow down as both sides struggled to create any clear cut chances of note. The best coming from youngster Ben Chesters on 60 minutes. However, he failed to make a clean connection with his header inside the area.

With 18 minutes left on the clock, the Grove were awarded a penalty as the referee deemed that the trialist was fouled in the box. Up stepped Ruben Wiggins-Thomas, however, the Knutsford goalkeeper got down to make the save.

Lovatt should have had completed his hat-trick late on in the match. But he was unable to keep his header down.

The Grove did get their third goal of the night when a trailist hit a fantastic first time shot from 25-yards out which flew into the top right hand corner of the goal.

If the Grove wanted to rub salt in the wounds of Knutsford, they could have done with the last kick of the game when the ball fell to Chesters. However, he couldn't find the target.

Nevertheless, the results marked another good win and yet another decent performance as the Grove continue to prepare for the 2020/21 season.

Dundas and he team are not in action on Saturday but will be back on Tuesday as Wolstanton are the visitors to the Autonet Insurance Stadium.